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Blue Jays MiLB Recap – Harris continues to struggle; Smith Jr. finds his groove in AA

By Lucas Silva

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Buffalo Bisons (65-66) @ Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (59-71) – 9-3 L

Former members of the Blue Jays bullpen and potential September call-ups, Aaron Loup and Chad Jenkins, really struggled in this one. The two of them combined to give up all 9 runs (8 ER) in last night’s game in Lehigh Valley, with Jenkins only lasting 3.1 IP while allowing 9 H, 7 ER, to go with 3 BB and 2 K. He’s been in and out of the rotation all year long, making 9 starts among 39 appearances; his season long ERA now sits at 2.93 in 83 IP.

Loup pitched an inning and a third, issuing 3 base hits to go along with 3 walks, but was lucky to escape with only 1 ER. Loup hasn’t gone down to AAA and had any sort of success; through 5 IP in 4 appearances since being sent down, he’s allowed 9 hits, walked 4, struckout 5, and sits with an ERA of 5.40.

The Buffalo offence had 10 base hits in the game, but only one of them went for anything more than a single, limiting the damage they could have one. Dalton Pompey went 2/4 with his 15th SB, Matt Hague was 2/4 with a 2B and an RBI, and Andy Burns 2/4 with an RBI, led the way on offence.

New Hampshire Fisher Cats (63-63) @ Portland Sea Dogs (47-82) – 3-0 W

Casey Lawrence delivered a fantastic start in this one, leading the Fisher Cats back to a .500 record. He went 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, and moved his season long record to 12-12. Blake McFarland closed this one out, striking out the side in the 9th inning to earn his 14th save of the year.

Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays /

Toronto Blue Jays

McFarland has absolutely dominated AA this season, putting up a 1.93 ERA in 42 IP, while striking out 60 and walking just 5. That’s a 12.9 K/9 and a 1.1 BB/9, simply fantastic numbers. However, he is 27-years-old and considerably older than the league average.

Dwight Smith Jr. led the Fisher Cats offence, going 2/5 with his 7th HR of the year. After putting up very disappointing numbers throughout the year, Smith Jr. finally looks like he’s hitting the way he is capable. In his last ten games he’s gone 12/37 (.324) with 2 HR and a 4:2 BB:K ratio. If he can have a strong end to the season it would definitely bode well for him to leading into next year.

Dunedin Blue Jays (55-72) @ Tampa Yankees (63-66) – 5-1 L

Alberta, Canada product and 17th round draft pick in 2012, Shane Dawson, suffered his first poor outing since joining the Dunedin staff on August 5th. He only went 2 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, raising his Dunedin ERA from 2.65 to 4.26. However, his season long ERA between Lansing and Dunedin sits at 3.23 through 119.2 IP to go along with 114 K and 32 BB.

The Dunedin offence failed to put much together, notching 6 base hits, all of which went for singles. Christian Lopes drove in the only run they scored, and Dickie Joe Thon was the only Blue Jay to have a multi-hit game, but he was also caught steal in this one.

Lansing Lugnuts (68-58) @ Fort Wayne TinCaps (70-55) – 5-3 L

The Lugnuts failed to get much going on offence in last night’s game and booted the ball around a couple of times, leading to the 5-3 loss.

Starter, Justin Shafer, went 4.1 IP allowing 4 R, only 1 of which was an ER, as the defence failed to help him out. Dusty Isaacs and Carlos Ramirez came in to relieve Shafer, combining for 3.2 innings of solid relief work, only allowing one more run to cross the plate.

The Lugnut offence was led by David Harris, as he was the only hitter to post a multi-hit game and hit for an extra base hit. He also drove in a run and stole a bag.

Boise Hawks (25-40) @ Vancouver Canadians (29-35) – 12-8 L

Jonathon Harris’ struggles in Vancouver as his first year as a professional continue, in a big way. Harris failed to get out of the third inning, only going 2.1 IP, while giving up 9 H and 10 R, 8 of which were earned.

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The Jays top pick in the latest draft has put together a terrible campaign since joining the Canadians shortly after he was drafted. Granted, he was coming off a full college season, but the numbers he has put up are quite bad: 6.75 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 36 IP, 21 BB, 32 K. It’s obviously too early to make any concrete judgements on his future, but his first taste of pro-ball has gone everything but well.

The Vancouver offence only garnered 7 base hits, but took advantage of their ability to get on base via the walk (8 walks), and Biose’s terrible defence (5 errors) to score their 8 runs.

Overall, judging by the box score, it looked like a horribly played baseball game. 8 combined errors and 13 walks: numbers you shouldn’t at any professional level, especially outside of rookie ball.

Next: Blue Jays Roster: September Call Ups Won't Be Flashy

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